 Jarmila Kratochvílová in 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Czechoslovakia |
| Born | (1951-01-26)26 January 1951 (age 74) Golčův Jeníkov, Czechoslovakia |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
Event(s) | 400 metres,800 metres |
| Club | VŠ Praha |
| Coached by | Miroslav Kváč |
| Retired | 1987 |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbests | |
Medal record | |
Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czech pronunciation:[ˈjarmɪlaˈkratoxviːlovaː]ⓘ; born 26 January 1951 inGolčův Jeníkov)[2] is aCzechoslovak formertrack and field athlete.[3] She was the 1980 Olympic silver medalist in the400 metres. In 1983, she set theworld record for the 800 metres, which still stands and is currently the longest-standing world record inathletics. Only two athletes,Pamela Jelimo of Kenya (2008), andCaster Semenya of South Africa (2018), have come within a second of Kratochvílová's mark since it was set.[4]
A two-time World Champion, Kratochvílová won the400 metres and800 metres at the1983 World Athletics Championships, setting aworld record in the 400 m, which stood for two years. She also won a silver medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the same championships.
Kratochvílová also competed in indoor events. In 1982 she set the world indoor record in the 400 metres of 49.59 seconds; a record which stood until 2023.
Kratochvílová's first major event in 1979 took place in February. At the1979 European Athletics Indoor Championships inVienna, she ran the 400 metres in 51.81 seconds, breaking her own national record, and winning a silver medal as she finished in second place, just 0.01 seconds behind British runnerVerona Elder.[5] Kratochvílová was one of four athletes from her country to be selected for the secondIAAF World Cup, held in August 1979. As two team-mates were only non-competing reserves, only she and shot put silver medalistHelena Fibingerová actually participated. She raced for Europe in the 4 x 400m relay.[6] AlongsideKaroline Käfer,Elke Decker andIrena Szewińska, the Europe team finished the final in a time of 3:27.4, the same as the third-placed United States team, and seven seconds behind winners East Germany.[7]
Kratochvílová was part of theCzechoslovak delegation at the 1980 Summer Olympics. She finished third in the semi-final of the400 metres, after coasting for the last 50 metres of the race.[8] She went on to win a silver medal the following day in the final, finishing behind world record holderMarita Koch. Her time of 49.46 seconds was the first time she'd completed the distance under 50 seconds and set a new national record.[9]
In January 1981, Kratochvílová broke the world indoor record over 400 metres at an international meeting inVienna, finishing in 49.64 seconds.[10] On 6 June 1981, Kratochvílová took part in the Pravda-Televize-Slovnaft meeting atŠtadión Pasienky inBratislava. At 16:50 local time she won the 100 metres in a personal best time of 11.09 seconds, also setting a new national record, in a race which included 1980 Olympic bronze medallist,Merlene Ottey. She later lined up in the 200 metres event at 18:25, again winning the event, and setting a second national record that day with a time of 21.97 seconds.[11] In September that year, Kratochvílová participated in the1981 IAAF World Cup, held at theStadio Olimpico inRome. She finished second to AmericanEvelyn Ashford in the 200 metres final, finishing in 22.31 seconds. An hour and a half later, Kratochvílová ran the anchor leg of the 4 × 400 m relay in a Europe team with BritsMichelle Scutt,Verona Elder andJoslyn Hoyte-Smith, which finished second behind the team of East Germany. In the 400 metres, held on the Sunday evening, she finished ahead of Olympic champion and world record holder Koch andJacqueline Pusey of Jamaica to win in 48.61 seconds, setting a meeting record, as well as a national record in the process.[12]
In March 1982, Kratochvílová won gold in the400 metres at the1982 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Milan, ahead ofDagmar Rübsam of East Germany andGaby Bußmann of West Germany. Her time of 49.59 seconds beat her previous best by 0.05 seconds and set a new indoor world record.[13] September 1982 brought theEuropean Championships in Athens. Kratochvílová ran in lane 2 in the semi-finals of the400 metres, slowing down in the second half of the race but still winning it.[14] The following day she finished second in the final behind Koch, who overtook her after 250 metres, on the way to setting a new world record in the race. Kratochvílová, who finished the event in her second best ever time, took the silver medal ahead of compatriotTaťána Kocembová.[15] Days later, Kratochvílová was part of the Czechoslovakia team which ran a national record time of 3:22.17 in the4 × 400 m relay to win another silver medal, behind the East Germany quartet, who finished first in world record time.[16]
In July 1983, Kratochvílová broke the 800 m world record in theOlympic Stadium in Munich, with a time of 1:53.28.[17] At theinaugural World Championships, held inHelsinki in August of the same year, she set a world record of 47.99 seconds to win the 400 m.[18] Despite the 800 metres final taking place just half an hour after the semi-finals for the 400 metres,[19] she won gold in the 800 metres, running the third fastest-ever recorded time of 1:54.68. Her third medal of the championships came in the 4 × 400 m relay, winning silver with Czechoslovakia.[20]
Due to the1984 Summer Olympics boycott, Czechoslovakia did not send a delegation to the1984 Summer Olympics in American cityLos Angeles and Kratochvílová had no opportunity to compete.[21] Her first biography, co-written with coach Miroslav Kváč, was released in 1985.[22] She finished her active career in 1987.[21]
Kratochvílová's 1983 400-metre world record of 47.99 seconds stood for two years until it was broken by her great rival Marita Koch in October 1985. Koch's 400-metre world record of 47.60 seconds is still the current world record.
Kratochvílová's 1982 world record on an indoor track—49.59—stood until 19 February 2023 when the 400-metre indoor world record was broken byFemke Bol from the Netherlands with a time of 49.26.[23][24][25]
Her 800-metre world record is the longest-standing unshared track record in men or women's athletics, and it was described by 1996 Olympic championSvetlana Masterkova as ".. very fast. It's impossible for women to run so fast. It will last for 100 years."[26]
Kratochvílová was a late developer, not breaking 53 seconds for the 400 metres until she was 27, and she was 32 when she set her world records.[27]
Her remarkably fast times and her atypical muscular physique[28] spawned rumours of illegal drug use.[29] Kratochvílová has maintained her innocence, and although in 2006 the Prague newspaperMladá fronta DNES claimed to have uncovered a doping program run by the government of Czechoslovakia, there was no link to Kratochvílová despite her being her country's highest-profile athlete.[30] She and her coach of 20 years, Miroslav Kváč, maintain that it was rigorous training and high doses ofvitamin B12 that account for her records, a claim treated with scepticism by several anti-doping campaigners.[31] In 2017, she criticized a proposal byEuropean Athletics to remove suspicion about drug-taking by voiding all world records set before 2005.[31]
Since her retirement, Kratochvílová has worked as an athletics coach and with the Czech national team.[32] She trainedLudmila Formanová, who also becameworld champion in 800 metres, in 1999.[33] In 2013 a second biography about her,Fenomén Jarmila, was published. As well as her racing career, the book details her later life as an athletics coach.[22]
Kratochvílová was namedSportsperson of the Year for Czechoslovakia twice: in 1981 and again in 1983.[34] Further awards she won in 1983 includedEuropean Sportsperson of the Year,[35] as well as American magazineTrack & Field News naming herAthlete of the Year.[36]
Kratochvílová was awarded theKamenná medaile (Stone Medal) by her nativeVysočina Region in 2009.[33]She received theMedal of Merit from Czech presidentMiloš Zeman in October 2013.[37]
broad-shouldered […] more like a middleweight boxer's than that of a middle-distance runner
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's 400 metres World Record holder 1983-08-10 - 1985-10-06 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Women's 800 metres World Record holder 1983-07-26 — | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | United Press International Athlete of the Year 1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1983 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
